The passionate purple of Ardent

I’m not sure why I bother to maintain a queue on Ravelry. I carefully arrange projects on it, match yarn to patterns—and then go off and do projects on whims. The Ardent Shawlette was a whim project. Fifty-something potential projects in my queue when I saw this pattern, and, well, here’s a shawlette. And my queue has grown to sixty-something potential projects, because I decided I liked several of Janina Kallio’s other patterns. So really, the problem is getting worse.

I was attracted by, uh, the pattern in this pattern (oh English, you’re so wonderfully ambiguous sometimes). I liked how the solid bands of garter stitch alternate with openwork. This looked like it would be a great project for a yarn a little more exciting color-wise than the tonals I tend to use; the solid bands would show the yarn off well, while the openwork would add texture interest. I was right. The yarn hasn’t photographed well, but it’s mainly purple with splashes of dark fuchsia and teal. I bought the yarn in St. Cloud while on my way to the annual knitting retreat a couple of years ago and I’m delighted to have finally found a pattern for it.

Kallio says this is an asymmetrical shawlette. It was when I was knitting it. I tried to block it asymmetrically as well, but I ended up with a more or less symmetrical triangle anyway. I ran out of yarn a few rows from the end—I suspect my gauge loosened up over time. But I was in no mood to rip it out and reknit it, and it’ll work just fine as is.

I didn’t expect this project to take as long as it did (three months). I developed a hand problem that noticeably limited how long I could spend knitting at one time. Plus, I found other activities to distract me. (I know, I know: how could anything be more fascinating than knitting? Although crocheting equals it.) But here it is, and I’ve already cast on for the next project. This is Cobblestone, another pattern by Kallio, with more garter stitch and openwork. A pattern that I’d queued when I realized that I liked several of her designs. And that’s why I bother to maintain a queue on Ravelry, it seems.

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Ardent Shawlette
Pattern: Ardent
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk Paints
Color: Violets (9995)
Needles: 7 (4.5 mm)